Brenda Holloway: Hurtin' And Cryin' - 1968

Despite releasing a hatful of singles between 1964 and 1968, Brenda Holloway only released two albums for Motown. This was the second of them. It differs pleasingly from her first offering, a collection of heavily-orchestrated ballads, in that she ups the pace somewhat, becoming a bit of a hit on the Northern Soul circuit in the process.

After the departure of Mary Wells from Motown, songwriter Smokey Robinson was briefly left without an artist until he found Brenda Holloway. "If you see Smokey without an artist it's like a day without sunshine", said Brenda. So, he got her to sing over Mary's voice on her original recording of his (and Mary's) song When I'm Gone and the result is one of Brenda's best cuts for Motown, in my opinion. The song suits her deep, warm, sexy and sultry voice perfectly. I love it. It wasn't a hit, though, which was a shame. It damn well should have been. Maybe people were still too familiar with Mary's version. Both of them are excellent, it has to be said, the ladies have quite similar voices. I can't really choose a favourite.

The Frank Wilson-produced Just Look What You've Done is easily one of Brenda Holloway's most uptempo Motown singles. It is my favourite of hers and the very opposite of the smooth ballads she usually released. It was written by Wilson and R. Dean Taylor. Finally, Brenda had gone upbeat! The Northern Soul DJs lapped this up and listening to it, you can totally hear why. 

Now for You've Made Me Feel So Very Happy - Brenda's version of this Berry Gordy/Frank Wilson/Brenda & Patrice Holloway song was the first release of the song that became a huge jazz-soul hit for David Clayton-Thomas and Blood Sweat & Tears. Their version sounded the way Brenda had imagined it to sound, a sound Gordy had rejected out of hand - he made many mistakes, didn't he? This one duly wasn't a hit and it proved to be Brenda's final single for Motown. She quit soon after, aged just 21, due to what she perceived as Gordy's intransigence towards her and her career. Shame. 

The grammatically-incorrect Don't Want Nobody's Gonna Make Me Cry is back to balladry, but it is more on the soulful and less on the strings. Yes, the strings are there, but they are more subtle and tasteful as opposed to intrusive. Brenda's voice is beautifully bluesy. It is one of her best ballads, for me. Brenda is learning to sing the blues. 

A classic Smokey Robinson ballad is covered effectively in Till Johnny Comes by the (perhaps appropriately) smokey-voiced Brenda over a nice, warm, bassy backing. Holloway herself rated it one of her favourites. I get that.

Hurt A Little Every Day was a follow-up to Every Little Bit Hurts and is remarkably similar in its title. It is a big, grandiose ballad but doesn't really raise itself above the ordinary, for me. I prefer the bouncier, jauntier non-album track that was its 'b' side, Where Were You. 

Starting The Hurt All Over Again, the uptempo single Just Look What You've Done's 'b' side, was a Northern Soul stomper too, surprisingly. It was written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson and indeed it was their first ever composition for Motown. They would go on to write so many more. 

You Can Cry On My Shoulder, written by Berry Gordy, is not one of my favourites of Brenda's. I find it a bit too over-orchestrated, although I can't argue with the quality of her delivery. More to my taste is the solid, bassy groove of the non-album 'b' side ballad How Many Times Did You Mean It.

A World Without You is a classy late-night torcher, nicely produced with the strings far less prominent, giving way to the drums and the bass. I'll Be Alright is nicely faster in pace, possessing a solid thumping Motown backbeat. You see, Brenda could do this sort of material. This is the third (possibly fourth if you count When I'm Gone) upbeat number on the album and it is by far the better for it. It makes me appreciate the ballads more too. 

Everybody Knows is an understated quality slowie and Make Him Come To You is a sort of typical Motown semi-slow, powerful, solidly drum-powered ballad to end on.

There were also several other singles and 'b' sides that didn't appear on the album, so I will detail them here -

Think It Over (Before You Break My Heart) is a delightfully lively and catchy number that would have improved the above album no end. Another sultry ballad for Brenda was I'll Aways Love You. The song was also recorded by Blinky on her first Motown single in 1968. 

Once more, with Operator, Brenda Holloway was given a Smokey Robinson already recorded by Mary Wells back in 1962 (it was the 'b' side of her hit Two Lovers). Brenda brings a sexy maturity to Operator as indeed she also does with her coquettish vocal on the uptempo and mightily appealing I'll Be Available (another Smokey song). This is an impressive double header of songs (they appeared on the same 45 release).

You've Changed Me is a sumptuous Smokey Robinson ballad dealt with superbly by Brenda, as we had now come to expect. 

Together Till The End Of Time was written by Frank Wilson. Brenda admitted to having a real connection to Wilson's songs. She certainly shows that connection here. She sings it beautifully, with a fine sound quality too. 

Play It Cool, Stay In School - a real oddity here, as Brenda tells kids they need to stay in school, get their heads down and graduate. It is lively and attractive enough and its sentiments are laudable, but it still comes across as a tad cheesy. "When you learn more, you're bound to earn more". Really? It didn't work for me!

You've Got To Find It is a fine Frank Wilson-penned ballad too. 

So much material then - only two albums. As I said on my review of her debut album, maybe Motown never really did right by Brenda.